Ten years ago, most corporate networks were fortified castles with alligators in the moat and a drawbridge to be raised at any hint of an attack.

That notion of cybersecurity protection changed as more corporate users steered an increasing amount of network traffic to the internet. With the introduction of cloud and mobile devices to get work done, there now had to be protection between users and wherever they wanted to go, which was usually outside the safety of the fortified castle.

“Once you come to the realization that the internet is your corporate network and will continue to be so, then the things that you do change dramatically,” said Larry Biagini (pictured), chief technology evangelist at Zscaler Inc. and special advisor at Brighton Park Capital Management L.P., and former VP and CTO at General Electric. “My world has the internet as a corporate network, the corporate network as a subset of the internet, no users on the corporate network, and all users untrusted on the internet. That’s where the customers that I talk to are headed.”

Biagini spoke with Stu Miniman (@stu), host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio, at theCUBE’s studio in Boston, Massachusetts, as part of the Zscaler Digital Transformation series. They discussed failed attempts in the past to provide effective security solutions and the importance of a frictionless environment for the end user. (* Disclosure below.)

Limiting the damage

As a provider of security between users and applications regardless of location, network or device, Zscaler sits at the forefront of a battle among vendors to offer a solution that will limit harm in an industry where the average cost of a data beach will exceed $150 million next year. Zscaler’s approach has gained traction within the enterprise information-technology world, which has seen vast amounts of money spent in the past without effective results.

“I believe that five years ago, security was top of mind and there was a boatload of money thrown at it. And that money got spent, but nobody was able to prove they were any more secure than the next guy,” Biagini said. “The metrics weren’t there.”

At the end of September, Zscaler announced an integration of its cloud security platform with CrowdStrike Inc. to prevent infected or non-compliant devices from accessing corporate assets. It’s part of an approach designed to create a frictionless experience for the end user, according to Biagini.

“The success finish line is actually doing what you’re supposed to do for the organization without anyone actually knowing it, not being in the way,” Biagini said. “It’s end users being able to do their jobs in a frictionless manner, but you being able to do your job and the security job in protecting them.”

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s CUBE Conversations. (* Disclosure: Zscaler Inc. sponsored this segment of theCUBE. Neither Zscaler nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE